r-project.org: “R is a free software environment for statistical computing and graphics. It compiles and runs on a wide variety of UNIX platforms, Windows and MacOS.”
- high-level language, meant for interacting with data
- implements a programming language (called S)
- extensible through a packaging system
- emphasises reproducibility: over time, and accross platforms
- written in C, interfaces to Fortran, C, C++, Java, Python, …